K, so a couple of years ago I was watching The Oprah Show, and they had this awesome recipe for fettuccini alfredo that is both healthy and heart friendly. The secret? White beans. They made the sauce thick and creamy while knocking out a bunch of calories and fat grams.
Nice.
Sometimes I make the sneaky fettuccini recipe – my family is totally fooled. And sometimes I alter things by adding white beans to my spaghetti sauce when we are out of ground meat. Because I don’t feel like making a trip to the store just for ground meat. Because I don’t want to herd the cats get the kids in the car and wrestle them in the store. I never come out with just the one thing I went in for. We always need diapers and milk. Plus double stuffed Oreos are constantly messing with my head and insist that I bring them home. And there’s a Goodwill right across from my grocery store, which is like the mother ship calling me home…or at least inside for just a quick sec to see what’s new. Plus the whole thing wastes gasoline.
And, AND!! The price of a can of beans: 75 cents.
The price of a pound of ground meat: about $3.75.
See why sometimes it just makes good sense to add beans to my spaghetti sauce?
I usually get the least expensive can of white beans on the shelf. (No, I don’t get the dried ones and cook them. I’m too lazy.)
Feel free to drain and rinse them to get rid of extra sodium if you want to.
The beans are poured into the blender and pureed. Easy Peasy.
(add their bean juice, or about 1/2 a can of water, to get things moving)
Next, I combine the beans and a jar of tomato sauce in a sauce pan.
This is where I add a few spices – garlic powder, oregano, salt, parsley – because the beans need a little flavor. Simmer spaghetti sauce until it thickens, but continue to stir occasionally because the beans will try to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Once the sauce is thick, it’s served over my family’s favorite pasta.
Yummy, healthy, and wallet friendly.
Win Win Win.
My cute kidlets gobble it up, and no Oreos had to be bought to make spaghetti. It’s a good day in My World. 
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I need to try this out. I’ve been seeing lots of recipes lately that people are subbing in white beans, I need to be cool and jump on this train too. Thanks!
Beth, what is the Alfredo recipe??
Tina, click on the pink words fettucini alfredo and it will take you to the yummy recipe!
That is awesome!! thanks for the tip!
Great idea! I need help when it comes to cooking healthy.
I wonder if I could get away with that, hmmm….might try it.
H